


Love Heals

by afteriwake



Series: What Love Does [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-26
Updated: 2012-10-26
Packaged: 2017-11-17 01:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/546227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He's lonely, and he knows she's lonely too. So he offers the only thing he can: a chance to think about something else for a while.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Heals

**Author's Note:**

> Finally picking up this series again. I’m going to probably bounce back and forth between Huntsman/Snow White and Prince Charming/Evil Queen. An answer to the **onceuponaland** bingo prompt "Huntsman - lonely."

He was lonely. He had been accepted into this ragtag group of people, led by Snow White, but he didn’t feel as though he belonged. He still felt more comfortable out in the woods with his wolves, doing the hunting for the people who had taken him in. It was a small way to repay the debt he felt he owed, though he couldn’t explain the debt to the others. It was almost as though if Snow had tried to free her Prince, if he hadn’t found her, he wouldn’t have gotten his heart back and he’d still be the prisoner of the Queen, at her beck and call.

He spoke seldom to the others, even as Red and some of the dwarves tried to be friendly and reach out to him. Snow was just as lonely as he was, he could imagine. She didn’t speak to anyone unless spoken to first, and even then her answers were short and without emotion. The others would talk around him, and while he didn’t offer his opinion he listened. She was heartbroken by the sight of her Prince Charming enjoying Queen Regina’s company.

One day he decided to act. “Do you know how to hunt?” he asked Snow after the dwarves had left for the mine.

“Yes,” she said.

“Then come hunt with me today. Winter is coming and you need meat for your stores, and two hunters will fare better.”

He could see her debating it, and finally she gave a dejected “Fine” in response. He grabbed his crossbow and bolts while she got her bow and arrow and knife, and out they went. They stayed mostly silent the entire day, only talking when absolutely needed. They brought home twice as much meat today as he usually brought in on his own, and the dwarves were happy for that.

The next day she was ready and waiting when the dwarves left, and they went out into the woods together. They quickly worked out a system, and played to their strengths: he got the deer and larger animals, she got the fowl and set snares for the smaller ones like rabbits and squirrels. They did this day after day for a week, and soon there wasn’t enough room in the smokehouse for all the meat they had gathered. It would be enough to last them for quite a while.

He wanted one more day of hunting, so they set out as soon as the dwarves left, this time to new hunting grounds. There was a different feeling in the air today, though; she wasn’t as focused on the hunt as she was him. And about three hours into the trip she finally stopped and looked at him. “Were you lonely, in her castle?”

He nodded slowly. “I was,” he said. “I’m lonely still, but I feel better now that I have my freedom and can come into the woods whenever I please. I feel more at ease out here.”

“I know how you feel,” she replied. “There’s something about being out in nature that makes you feel at peace. This week of hunting, it’s helped. Thank you for including me.”

“You’re welcome, your highness,” he said.

“There’s no need for formality out here,” she said. “You can call me Snow.”

“Very well.”

“What’s your name, anyway?” she asked, tilting her head slightly.

“I don’t actually have one,” he said, scratching at his beard. “I was raised by wolves. They didn’t feel the need to give me a name. Other humans simply refer to me as the Huntsman.” Then he shrugged slightly. “I suppose that’s as good a name as any.”

“But it’s a title, not a name,” she said. “Everyone deserves a name.”

“Maybe one day I’ll adopt one,” he replied.

“You strike me as a…Graham,” she said after a moment. “I don’t know why, but I think that name fits you well.”

“Graham,” he said, rolling it off his tongue. “Very well. If you want to call me Graham you may.”

“I think I will.” She gave him a smile, the first he had seen on her face since the day he let her go. It was a rather nice smile, small but warm and sincere. “So, Graham, where do we want to hunt next?”

“In the clearing up ahead,” he said. “There are many deer that gather there.”

“Then let’s get going before more time passes,” she said, moving towards the path to the clearing. He followed, suddenly feeling less lonely and more at home with the woman who had given him his name. It was a strange feeling to feel close to another human, but he realized he liked it as well. He pushed it to the back of his mind as they made their way to the clearing and spent the day hunting.

They went back to near silence while they worked, and it wasn’t until they had finished that he spoke again. “Do you feel lonely still, Snow?”

She thought about it, tilting her head slightly. “It still hurts. I still miss him. But…I feel less lonely. He made his choice, and while I don’t like it I can’t spend my time and energy fighting it. He’s a grown man, and if he wants to make a mistake then he’ll learn from it in the end, I suppose. That doesn’t mean I need to waste away and wait for him. I have a life of my own to lead, and friends who depend on me. I can’t let them down.”

“I’m glad I let you escape,” he said, giving her a slight smile.

“I’m glad you did too,” she said, giving him a small smile of her own. “Let’s get this home and see about making a grand dinner tonight. I feel like doing something nice for everyone tonight.” She picked up her snared rabbits and began to walk back to the dwarves’ cottage, and he followed with the deer he’d killed being pulled behind him. Perhaps she had turned a corner…and maybe he had as well.


End file.
